by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

MARTINSVILLE, Va. - After thoroughly whipping the competition at Martinsville Speedway - as he has more than any other active Sprint Cup driver - Jimmie Johnson keyed his mic with a curious transmission Sunday.

"We looked like we knew what we were doing today," Johnson exulted.

His NASCAR rivals would be quaking if there were anything more the five-time Cup champion could learn about mastering Martinsville.

"Did (Johnson) lead every lap?" Clint Bowyer asked after finishing runner-up in the STP Gas Booster 500. "Not every one? Still pretty good."

That was vintage understatement from sardonic Bowyer.

Johnson's eighth victory at the 0.526-mile oval - moving him into sole possession of third place on the all-time win list behind Richard Petty (15) and Darrell Waltrip (11) at a track that has hosted NASCAR's premier series since 1949 - might have been his best yet at Martinsville.

He set a personal best by pacing 346 of 500 circuits - more laps led than in any of his 405 starts in NASCAR's premier series. Starting and winning from the pole position at Martinsville for the second consecutive race in his No. 48 Chevrolet, Johnson didn't fall lower than fourth as his pit crew maximized the stall at the end of pit road that provides a large advantage at the tight track.

"You give him that No. 1 pit stall, and it's almost near impossible to beat him," said third-place finisher Jeff Gordon, who had been tied with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate with seven victories here. "Jimmie just has really figured this place out."

It wasn't raw speed or innate ability for mastering the track's tricky rhythm that left Johnson excited.

In assuming command of the Cup standings (by six points over Brad Keselowski) with his second victory of the season and the 62nd of his career, it was the championship mettle exhibited by his team that had him crowing about it being "a very well-executed race" and "the most mature weekend" in 11 years under the guidance of crew chief Chad Knaus.

Strategy miscues have hurt the team despite dominant cars in the past at Martinsville, but Knaus played his cards correctly by calling for a final pit stop under caution with 50 laps remaining and keeping the car on the track during the last two yellows as other lead-lap cars stopped.

"It's easy to start chasing things here and get off track," Johnson said. "We just executed from the first laps in practice to where we were at the end of the race, and that was fun.We had just such a calm weekend."

It was relatively calm throughout the field after two weeks of flared tempers and bent fenders at Bristol Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway.

Joey Logano, who has been embroiled in spats with Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart, finished 23rd with a battered No. 22 Ford, but there was no blatant retaliation.

Even incidents that involved contact led to apologies and not anger. Danica Patrick, who finished 12th in her Martinsville debut, was involved in a late collision with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who lost the points lead after a 24th (his first outside the top 10 in 2013). Under the ensuing caution caused by his spin, Earnhardt relayed to Patrick via their spotters, "You did nothing wrong."

The closest performance to perfection, though, belonged to Johnson, who made the transition to the new Gen 6 car with flawless aplomb despite adapting to a new tire and employing a new setup created by Knaus for the lighter, faster car.

"I was talking to my father, and he said, 'Man, you guys have got a really good setup for Martinsville, you ought to be in pretty good shape,'" Knaus said. "I said, 'Well, we did until they changed all the rules.' We really had to dig in deep.

"My father (said), 'Well, how do you know where you're going to start?' I said, 'We're just going to guess.' Fortunately enough, we guessed right."